Coachella Valley Firebirds not burdened by expectations, but motivated by past successes Show Caption Hide Caption CV Firebirds enter the AHL playoffs on quest for the Calder Cup Desert Sun staff Shad Powers and Andrew John talk about what it will take for the Firebirds to make a deep run in the AHL playoffs The Coachella Valley Firebirds' Jacob Melanson looks like a hockey player straight out of central casting. He has a line of horizontal stitches across his right ear that looks like the top half is sewn onto the bottom half. His nose is twice its normal size and there are bruises to go along with it, but it's kind of hard to tell where they stop and start.

But on Saturday night, after scoring the game-winning goal in a season-saving win for the Firebirds, that face was beaming. He told the media after the game that it was the first time he'd scored an overtime goal in juniors or pro hockey. His goal, set up by a gritty defensive play from original Firebird Luke Henman, allowed the team to escape with a win on a night when a loss would've been devastating.

Not just in the way blowing a three-goal lead hurts more than a garden-variety loss, but also in the amount of history the Firebirds would've had to overcome to keep their playoffs going. Firebirds survive! Coachella Valley wins again in overtime after fumbling three-goal lead I asked Jason Chaimovitch at the AHL communications department for some statistics about digging out of an 0-2 hole, and he had them at the ready.

Only 13 teams in the long history of the AHL have won a five-game playoff series after losing the first two games. Only three of those teams did so after losing the first two at home, and none of those three had to win three road games to do it. All of them won a Game 5 back at home.

So without Melanson's goal, the Firebirds would've had to do something no team in the history of the AHL, which dates back to 1936, has ever done. But guess what? He did score that goal and those ominous statistics are moot because the Firebirds aren't in an 0-2 hole.

They are tied 1-1 and heading to Abbotsford for Game 3 on Wednesday with a skip in their skate. And winning playoff series is a bit of a tradition in these parts. The Firebirds have played in 10 playoff series in two-plus seasons and won eight of them.

Does the fact that the Firebirds fans and franchise have only known deep playoff runs add any pressure to this year's group? Three-year Firebird Gustav Olofsson, who scored a goal in Saturday's win, said pressure isn't the right word, but there's a clear precedent that has been set here. "It's part of the culture here, we have a lot of photos around the locker room and around this building, kind of just shows what we've done here and we want to do," Olofsson said.

"And that's kind of the standard we have is to be playing playoff hockey here and scoring goals at home, there's nothing better here with our crowd. There's a special feeling here." Max Lajoie, who also scored a goal Saturday, said for a guy like him who just joined the team this year, those lofty expectations and the history of success is not lost on him.

"I don't think it adds pressure, but obviously, it's great to see what these guys have done the past two years. It's a winning organization, which is great," Lajoie said. "I think with the team we have this year, obviously we're a little younger, but I think we have a great team and I'm excited for this playoff run."

Ryan Winterton, after Thursday's Game 1 loss, said the postseason itself brings with it some pressure, but he doesn't feel like the ghosts of playoff runs past are haunting this year's team. "Obviously, we've had pretty good success here the last two years, and we know that, but there's pressure everywhere when you're in the playoffs," Winterton said. "Us players, we kind of live for pressure and live for these moments, so I'd say there's pressure no matter what in the playoffs, but we like that."

So these Firebirds aren't burdened by expectations but motivated by them. And Firebirds fans understand that this year's team is not composed in the same way the veteran-heavy teams of the first two seasons were. And I think Firebirds fans understand that they've been spoiled by the past two seasons.

And Firebirds fans understand that Abbotsford finished with the better record and is the favorite in this series. But that doesn't mean a second-round exit is going to sting any less were it to happen. As far as Firebirds fans know, AHL seasons end in mid-June, not early May, or, God forbid, April.

I made eye contact with a woman wearing a Max McCormick jersey walking out after Saturday's win and she said to me "Whew, that was a fun one." I responded cleverly, "Yeah, totally." And then she said what everyone was thinking, "I really hope it's not the last home game of the year."

Thanks to Melanson's goal, it won't take a never-before-accomplished feat to make that happen. Heck, all this team needs to do is win two of three games in Abbotsford. The Firebirds are 2-0 already in Abbotsford this year and have a better road record than they do home record this season.

But throw those stats out the window. Until proven otherwise — and they've tried to prove it twice already these playoffs by blowing three-goal leads — winning playoff games is simply part of this team's DNA. And that's a good enough reason to believe that the woman in the McCormick jersey will get to see her Firebirds at Acrisure Arena again this year.

Shad Powers is a columnist for The Desert Sun. Have a question about the Firebirds? Reach him at shad.powers@desertsun.com.